First+Year+Teacher

 || =First Year Teacher = by Robert Sevilla  rrksevilla@gmail.com   ||  Image from www.kidswings.com   ||
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Helvetica, sans-serif;">Overview
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Tahoma, Geneva, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Helvetica, sans-serif;"> First Year Teacher casts you in the role of a brand new teacher at a local middle school. Choose the subject or subjects you will teach and your classroom. You begin your school year by assigning students to seats, making sure to keep incompatible students from sitting next to each other. Teach lessons, assign homework, monitor activities and projects. As the new school year unfolds, you begin to know your students by their behavior in the classroom and the quality of the work they complete or don't complete. This is when you get to practice your classroom management, student discipline, parent communication, and interpersonal skills. Can you get through your first year of teaching while keeping your sanity and ensuring that you will have a job for next year? <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Helvetica, sans-serif;">

<span style="font-family: Tahoma, Geneva, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Helvetica, sans-serif;">Instructional Objective
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, Geneva, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Helvetica, sans-serif;"> First year teachers need the support and encouragement to be successful during their first year of teaching. This is a crucial period in a teacher's career in determining whether they will stay in or leave the profession. This interactive game serves to supplement district and school support for new teachers or it could be used during and after a teacher credential program. This simulation exposes the player to situations that a new teacher may experience i.e. setting up the classroom, class management, student discipline, dealing with parents, other teachers, and administration. This game gives a preview of what situations may arise as a new teacher. The interaction between characters helps to reinforce the appropriate response to a particular situation or person. Although there is no substitute for actual classroom experience, the strategies used in the simulation may be successfully applied in classroom practice. <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Helvetica, sans-serif;">

<span style="font-family: Tahoma, Geneva, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Helvetica, sans-serif;">Learners
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, Geneva, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Helvetica, sans-serif;"> This simulation is designed for potential and/or new teachers of middle school (6th thru 8th). New teachers will want any type of support that will help lower their anxiety level and get them thru their first year of teaching. Although designed for brand new teachers, those who have survived their rookie year can revisit the simulation for review and reinforcement of class management strategies and communication skills with parents. <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Helvetica, sans-serif;">

<span style="font-family: Tahoma, Geneva, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Helvetica, sans-serif;">Context of Use
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, Geneva, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Helvetica, sans-serif;"> This simulation may be made available as part of a University teacher training program or a new teacher support program within a school district. This software program will be compatible for Mac and Windows and licensed to a school district and/or university. Alternatively, it may also be uploaded to subscribers' computers via CD installation or downloaded from a website upon entering a registration code. Designed for brand new teachers, those who have survived their rookie year can revisit the simulation for review and reinforcement of class management strategies, communication with parents, staff, and administration. <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Helvetica, sans-serif;">

<span style="font-family: Tahoma, Geneva, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Helvetica, sans-serif;">Scope

 * <span style="font-family: Tahoma, Geneva, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Helvetica, sans-serif;">This game will consist of sections each corresponding to the 10 months of the academic calendar year from September thru June. Progress will be measured as the user successfully navigates thru the school year.
 * <span style="font-family: Tahoma, Geneva, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Helvetica, sans-serif;">Each month will have their corresponding holidays and can be completed in one hour. The simulation may be saved and replayed at any point.
 * <span style="font-family: Tahoma, Geneva, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Helvetica, sans-serif;">This simulation focuses on a new teacher and his/her classroom. The simulation perspective is from the player's point of view. One primary view screen will show the classroom as viewed from the front. The perspective of the room changes as the user circulates around the room.
 * <span style="font-family: Tahoma, Geneva, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Helvetica, sans-serif;">Another screen will show the parent or parents sitting in front of your desk during parent conferences.
 * <span style="font-family: Tahoma, Geneva, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Helvetica, sans-serif;">A third screen will feature your colleagues or a group of teachers in the hallway, faculty room, campus, or in a classroom.
 * <span style="font-family: Tahoma, Geneva, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Helvetica, sans-serif;">A fourth screen will display an administrator and yourself communicating in their office.
 * <span style="font-family: Tahoma, Geneva, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Helvetica, sans-serif;">An accessible "mood" graph indicates the character's emotional state.
 * <span style="font-family: Tahoma, Geneva, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Helvetica, sans-serif;">A smaller help screen for tips and suggestions may be accessed at any time.
 * <span style="font-family: Tahoma, Geneva, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Helvetica, sans-serif;">Challenging situations occur more frequently and intensely if the more difficult preferences are selected. Situations that arise may involve students who physically or verbally attack, parents who harass or provoke, colleagues who spread insidious rumors, and unsupportive administrators.

<span style="font-family: Tahoma, Geneva, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Helvetica, sans-serif;">Object of the Game
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, Geneva, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Helvetica, sans-serif;"> The objective of the simulation is to successfully complete the school year and be rehired for the next school year while maintaining your physical, mental, and emotional well-being. More importantly, this simulation serves to review and reinforce concepts that may be applied to the actual classroom environment. Users may choose to revisit this simulation for practice. <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Helvetica, sans-serif;">

<span style="font-family: Tahoma, Geneva, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Helvetica, sans-serif;">Competing Products
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Helvetica, sans-serif;"> <span style="font-family: Tahoma, Geneva, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Helvetica, sans-serif;">Internet searching revealed Ubisoft's Imagine series, <span style="font-family: Tahoma, Geneva, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Helvetica, sans-serif;">[|ImagineTeacher]  <span style="font-family: Tahoma, Geneva, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Helvetica, sans-serif;"> which is designed for the Nintendo DS platform. //<span style="font-family: Tahoma, Geneva, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Helvetica, sans-serif;">ImagineTeacher //<span style="font-family: Tahoma, Geneva, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Helvetica, sans-serif;"> casts you in the role of a young woman named April who's been hired to replace the retiring Mr. Coddleton at the local elementary school. It is a one-teacher school with only four students but as the game progresses, student enrollment increases dependent on the quality of teaching. Your students are given star ratings to denote their skill in literature, science, social studies and art. The heart rating represents how much they like you. ImagineTeacher embeds mini-games which allow the user to play every book subject you'll be teaching. "Reading" becomes a game of quick letter recognition, as you're tasked to circle words on the screen containing a specific consonant or vowel. "Writing" challenges you to scribe single letters onto the screen -- with some nice handwriting recognition in the software here -- after spinning a wheel of fortune of different vocabulary words. "Geometry" has you matching triangles to recreate shapes, "Music" is a Simon-style note sequence memorization game, "Pottery" has you sculpting 3D clay pots with stylus strokes and more.

<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Helvetica, sans-serif;"> //<span style="font-family: Tahoma, Geneva, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Helvetica, sans-serif;">Imagine Teacher //<span style="font-family: Tahoma, Geneva, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Helvetica, sans-serif;"> and  //<span style="font-family: Tahoma, Geneva, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Helvetica, sans-serif;">First Year Teacher  //<span style="font-family: Tahoma, Geneva, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Helvetica, sans-serif;"> are similar in that personalities develop for all the characters in the simulation. However, you don't have to be a young woman named April as the simulation allows the user to customize their identity. //<span style="font-family: Tahoma, Geneva, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Helvetica, sans-serif;">First Year Teacher //<span style="font-family: Tahoma, Geneva, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Helvetica, sans-serif;"> allows the user to set the level of difficulty i.e. number of periods and subjects taught, grade levels, and class size. Additionally, the characteristics of students, parents, teachers, and administrators may be chosen. There are no mini-games which allow the user to play every book subject but rather the focus in //<span style="font-family: Tahoma, Geneva, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Helvetica, sans-serif;">First Year Teacher  //<span style="font-family: Tahoma, Geneva, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Helvetica, sans-serif;"> is on reviewing and reinforcing classroom management, student discipline, parent communication, and interpersonal skills. Personalities of the characters evolve in a more realistic fashion as you interact with them. <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Helvetica, sans-serif;">

<span style="font-family: Tahoma, Geneva, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Helvetica, sans-serif;">Design Details
//**<span style="font-family: Tahoma, Geneva, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Helvetica, sans-serif;">Universal Elements **//<span style="font-family: Tahoma, Geneva, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Helvetica, sans-serif;"> I wanted to give the game characters a similar cartoonish appearance as in //<span style="font-family: Tahoma, Geneva, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Helvetica, sans-serif;">ImagineTeacher with the addition of a photorealistic environment   //<span style="font-family: Tahoma, Geneva, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Helvetica, sans-serif;">. Common classroom sounds such as whispering, talking, pencils tapping, sneezing, etc. are generated according to the responses and preset characteristic preferences of the user. Characters will communicate by speaking, facial expressions, and body language. Communication with characters will be done by entering text and/or selecting "action" buttons. The user's point of view will be that of the new teacher; he/she will be able to move around the various digital environments via the mouse cursor or keyboard arrows. The default view will be a wide screen displaying the classroom, hallway, faculty room, campus, <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Helvetica, sans-serif;">and the administrator's offices.

<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Helvetica, sans-serif;"> //**<span style="font-family: Tahoma, Geneva, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Specific Elements  **//<span style="font-family: Tahoma, Geneva, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Begin by choosing the type of room environment. On this screen, the Language Arts classroom and Option 4 were selected. The options include various window and door placements. In designing the seating arrangement, teacher and student desks as well as students may be relocated by clicking and dragging. <span style="font-family: Tahoma, Geneva, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Helvetica, sans-serif;">  <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Helvetica, sans-serif;"> T  <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Helvetica, sans-serif;">he personality attributes of the students, parents, colleagues, and administrators may be altered or set on default by simply not selecting any personality attributes. Selecting personality attributes will cause the characters to behave more strongly to the user's responses, other characters, and their environment. <span style="font-family: Tahoma, Geneva, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Helvetica, sans-serif;">



<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Helvetica, sans-serif;"> <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Helvetica, sans-serif;">Click on a character to interact. A menu will appear on how you want to interact with the character. In this case a student was selected by clicking and then dragging to the specified location. The student replies with, "Yo, what's up teach?" shown as a balloon above the character's head. The learner has the option of responding with a choice of preset responses or may type in a unique response. The character will behave accordingly to your response - either favorably or unfavorably. The mood dial represents how the character is feeling at any given moment; the further to the left the arrow points, the character begins to act in a more negative manner. Whereas the further to the right the arrow points, the character acts in a more positive manner. A "help" menu for suggestions on how to respond appropriately and explanations on why it is an appropriate response is accessible by clicking on the black button in the upper right-hand corner. The simulation cycles through the academic school year in which characters behave accordingly to the anticipated holidays and vacations. For example, students become excited and are less focused in class, parents are more stressed, and teachers and administrators are breathing a sigh of relief as they look forward to the time off from their students. Each cycle can be completed in one hour and can be saved at any point within the simulation. The simulation is completed when the it cycles to June on the last day of school. <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Helvetica, sans-serif;"> //**Technical Elements**// <span style="font-family: Tahoma, Geneva, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Helvetica, sans-serif;"> //<span style="font-family: Tahoma, Geneva, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Helvetica, sans-serif;">** The simulation would be developed for both Windows and Macintosh computer systems in order to make the game more widely accessible. ** <span style="font-family: Tahoma, Geneva, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Since the environment will have a realistic appearance, the software of choice is [|Unity]. Image formats such as Photoshop .psd and .tiff files, jpeg, png, gif, bmp, tga, iff, and pict just to name a few are compatible with Unity. Unity provides realtime shadows and baked lightmaps that allows for the use of light and shadow to great effect. ////<span style="font-family: Tahoma, Geneva, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Unity will allow for the rendering of numerous 3D applications such as Maya, Cinema 4D, Cheetah 3D, or Blender. Supported audio files include wav, aiff, aac, and mp3 audio files. Mac users who use GarageBand may also take advantage of Unity's flexibility for supporting a multitude of audio, graphics, and video file formats. //<span style="font-family: Tahoma, Geneva, sans-serif;">

<span style="font-family: Tahoma, Geneva, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Helvetica, sans-serif;">Motivational Issues
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, Geneva, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Helvetica, sans-serif;"> According to Csikszentmilhalyi's "The Conditions of Flow", //<span style="font-family: Tahoma, Geneva, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Helvetica, sans-serif;">First Year Teacher  //<span style="font-family: Tahoma, Geneva, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Helvetica, sans-serif;"> will provide a platform in which the learner can become engaged. Since the difficulty parameters may be specified, the user can find a suitable level so that they can be sufficiently challenged and avoid boredom. <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Helvetica, sans-serif;">

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<span style="font-family: Tahoma, Geneva, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Helvetica, sans-serif;">Keller's ARCS model which encompasses attention, relevance, confidence, and satisfaction are stated in the following: ======

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<span style="font-family: Tahoma, Geneva, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Helvetica, sans-serif;">New teachers are anxious for assistance in any manner that will help make them successful in their new career. Class management and communication with parents are a major concern for them. Additionally, the photorealistic cyberenvironment will provide a realism second only to the experience of being in the classroom. ======

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<span style="font-family: Tahoma, Geneva, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Helvetica, sans-serif;">A strong component of this simulation deals with relevance. The content directly relates to what they are currently experiencing or will be experiencing in the classroom. ======

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<span style="font-family: Tahoma, Geneva, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Helvetica, sans-serif;">As the learner gains positive feedback on their performance, they may choose to adjust the level of difficulty to be more challenging. ======

**<span style="font-family: Tahoma, Geneva, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Helvetica, sans-serif;">Satisfaction **
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, Geneva, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Thru the feedback process inherent in the simulation, the user is rewarded by learning skills that may be applied to the actual classroom environment. <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Helvetica, sans-serif;">

<span style="font-family: Tahoma, Geneva, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Helvetica, sans-serif;">Design Process
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, Geneva, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Helvetica, sans-serif;"> My big idea was to come up with ways to help new teachers deal with the rigors of their first-year teaching assignment. Initially I was contemplating a simulation similar to //<span style="font-family: Tahoma, Geneva, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Helvetica, sans-serif;">Second Life  //<span style="font-family: Tahoma, Geneva, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Helvetica, sans-serif;"> where new teachers would meet and interact with veteran teachers. In this case, it would simply be more of an interactive discussion group with avatars which I thought would be rather silly. I remember taking a computer class at Cal State Hayward back in the early 90s which consisted of multiple CDs mailed to my home. The course content dealt with classroom management and the software program was a series of scenarios with each one ending with multiple-choice questions. The software program provided feedback if the chosen answer was incorrect. At the end of each lesson, one would be presented with a printable score sheet to be submitted to the school for credit. Any scenario could be repeated until one achieved a passing score on the quiz. The students in the software program were represented in a cartoonish manner complete with facial expressions and clothing to represent their personalities and characteristics. Overall, I thought this was an effective strategy in which to learn classroom management strategies as I have used some of them in my teaching career. I wanted to use this particular idea of a scenario and enhance it with more interactivity.

I did find a similar game in concept named <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Helvetica, sans-serif;"> //<span style="font-family: Tahoma, Geneva, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Helvetica, sans-serif;">Image:Teacher  //<span style="font-family: Tahoma, Geneva, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Helvetica, sans-serif;"> created by Ubisoft on the Nintendo DS platform which debuted in Spring 2008. After reading the game summary, it did not appear to focus on classroom management and and communication skills. Similarities and differences are also noted in detail in the section above titled Competing Products.

I had a conversation with a student teacher at my school site as I wanted to get a fresh perspective on whether or not the simulation I was designing would be helpful in any manner. She suggested that in addition to the simulation, I incorporate tips and hints on classroom management and how to deal with parents. I thought that was a great idea and therefore decided to integrate a "Help" section in the simulation. My wife, also an educator, was helpful in the design. Initially, I wanted to design an adventure game to to include just the classroom and the students. Her suggestion was to also include parents, teachers, and administrators. Her reasoning was to provide a simulation as realistic as possible.

Before designing any game, it is imperative to gather feedback during every phase of the project but more so at the beginning. Since I was developing this simulation for new teachers, my first and foremost step should have been to gather a focus group, or in this case a survey or informal interviews would have sufficed. To simply begin designing a simulation based on assumptions is counterproductive. <span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Helvetica, sans-serif;">

<span style="font-family: Tahoma, Geneva, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Helvetica, sans-serif;">References
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, Geneva, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Books & Journals <span style="font-family: Tahoma, Geneva, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Electronic
 * <span style="font-family: Tahoma, Geneva, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Helvetica, sans-serif;">Csikszentmilhalyi. The Conditions of Flow.
 * <span style="font-family: Tahoma, Geneva, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Helvetica, sans-serif;">Keller, John M. and Suzuki, Katsaki. Use of the ARCS Motivational Model in Courseware Design.
 * <span style="font-family: Tahoma, Geneva, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Helvetica, sans-serif;">http://ds.ign.com/articles/902/902943p1.html
 * <span style="font-family: Tahoma, Geneva, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Helvetica, sans-serif;">[|http://www.imagineteacher.co.uk/index.html]